Whenever possible, I like to point out educators who have used their powers for good. Samuel Mockbee was absolutely one of the exceptional ones. Before leukemia got the better of him in 2001, he was an architecture professor at Auburn University and was the co-founder and co-director of the socially- and ecologically-conscious Rural Studio program.

The intention of the program at its inception in 1993 was (and still is) to teach students in Auburn’s Design, Architecture and Construction Program to design and build homes and community buildings for low-income residents in the Hale County region of Alabama. (Hale County is best known as the impoverished area in Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.) Students are challenged to use as many recycled and reclaimed materials as possible when building the homes. Mockbee taught his students that “it’s got to be warm, dry, and noble.”

I have the book Andrea Oppenhe Dean wrote about the program and the resulting projects and it’s beautiful. There is nary a standard structure to be found. I wanted it for the photography (and because I’m obsessed with anything even vaguely related to Let Us Now Praise Famous Men or Walker Evans), but I got sucked in when I started reading the introduction. It’s an incredible story, and I’m happy it’s real and is still occurring.

Further Reading:

Proceed and Be Bold: Rural Studio After Samuel Mockbee
Salon: Samuel Mockbee
Education for Community Building
AU’s Rural Studio Blueprint for West Alabama Forestry Project
Architecture Week: Mockbee Southern Genius

Posted by Alexa Harrington